


Thanks For the Warning

by Lozcat



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: A little bit of hurt but everyone is fine, But really they adore each other, No Erin Gilbert sorry, Patty and Holtz have a slightly antagonistic friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:10:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7940848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lozcat/pseuds/Lozcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This isn't the time for jokes, Holtz!" Abby squeaked, "I hung you out of the window - by your <i> neck</i> - you <i>passed out</i>-"<br/>"And I'm fine," Holtzmann replied, but Abby shook her head in disbelief.<br/>"What can I say?" The engineer raised one eyebrow and shrugged. "It wasn't my worst Wednesday night."<br/>*<br/>The possession scene - and the aftermath.</p><p>(This is my first ever fic so please be gentle! Feedback definitely welcome)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanks For the Warning

**Author's Note:**

> Can't quite remember the dialogue from the film verbatim, sorry, but I've done my best.  
> 

This was not how she'd pictured her death.  
Above the roar of blood in her ears, Holtzmann could hear someone screaming, but she couldn't work out if it the terrified wailing was coming from Patty or if she was the one screeching like a banshee. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that her best friend had picked her up by her neck. That, and the fact that she was about to die.  
Holtzmann dangled hopelessly from the window, legs kicking uselessly against thin air. Patty was doing her best to maintain a grip on her wrist but Abby's head was facing the wrong way and it felt like her shoulder was about to wrench out of the joint and her hand was starting to slip and this was it - oh god, she hoped that Erin had the good sense not to bury her in a dress - and then she felt a sharp tug on her arm and, somehow, she was flying back through the window. She clattered to the floor - the sweet, beautiful floor, so solid and secure - in a daze, her muddled brain struggling to take stock of the situation. She could just about ascertain that Patty had saved her life and that she probably needed assistance dealing with their demonic friend - but as she raised her head, her vision began to swim, so she elected to curl up on the floor instead.  
"GET OUT OF MY FRIEND, GHOST!"  
"You've got this Patty," Holtzmann gasped, and closed her eyes.

*

The first thing Abby registered was pain, then confusion, as Patty's face swam into focus.  
"Oh god," the scientist moaned, "what did you - why are you straddling me?"  
"Is that you Abby?" Patty peered suspiciously into Abby's face, one hand curled back into a fist, just in case. "Are you back, baby girl?"  
"Back?" Abby's fingertips began to itch as the feeling flooded back into her hands. "What are you..."  
Her hands. Her hands around Holtzmann's throat.  
A burst of memories barrelled into her with the force of a freight train: Rowan's voice in her brain and his venom in her veins, the overwhelming urge to hurt, how easy it had been to hoist Holtzmann into the air, as though she were a ragdoll. How much she had enjoyed the fear in her eyes. How much she had despised Patty for getting in the way. How much she had wanted to put an end to the Ghostbusters.  
"Oh my god," she gasped, as though she's been winded, "Patty - Rowan, it was Rowan - where did he go? Patty..." She fought her rising terror as she recounted the feel of the tendons in Holtzmann's neck.  
"Patty, where's Holtzmann?" She pushed Patty off her chest and let out a garbled shout when she saw Holtzmann curled up beneath the window.  
"Holtzy!" Patty scrambled across the floor and rolled the engineer on to her back. "Holtz, are you okay? Can you breathe?"  
"I think..." The engineer groaned, her eyes screwed tightly shut, "I might need... mouth to mouth."  
"Man, she's fine," Patty rolled her eyes and clambered to her feet. "But Abby, Jesus, your hands are bleeding _everywhere_. Where do we keep the first aid kit?"  
Abby ignored her and hovered anxiously over Holtzmann, her gaze fixated on the bruises that had blossomed around the engineer's neck.  
"Never mind, I'll find it - just don't let Holtzy move!"  
Abby reached out and tentatively touched the engineer's shoulder.  
"Holtz?"  
Holtzmann opened her eyes, blinked twice and then locked on Abby. Abby expected to be confronted with an expression of fear, or even anger, but to her surprise the engineer smiled up at her sincerely.  
"Abby. Nice to have you back with us."  
"Holtzmann," Abby's voice cracked, "I am so, so sorry, I-"  
"Ahh, don't sweat it. We all do crazy things when we have a ghost inside our heads," Holtz casually replied, but there was no disguising the pain in her voice as she struggled to sit up.  
"I don't think you should be moving, you might be seriously-"  
Holtzmann bounded to her feet with a gin before Abby could protest further. "Jeez Abby, I'm okay, see? I'm perfectly..." Holtzmann wobbled, the colour draining from her face. "I'm - I'm-"  
"Jesus Holtzmann, is it hurting to breathe?"  
"Breathing. Is for dudes," Holtzmann laughed, and promptly passed out.

*

"Abby calm down-"  
"Rowan's _back_ -"  
"You think, honey?"  
"Where the hell is Erin? She's not picking up-"  
"Hold still-"  
"We never calculated for human possession, Patty, we didn't even _anticipate_ -"  
"I said hold still!"  
"No, I need to call Erin again-"  
"First of all I need to make sure you're okay-"  
"No, I need to fix this!"  
"Guys, can you keep it down?" Holtzmann was propped up in booth number one while Patty attempted to get Abby to sit still long enough to see to her hands. Holtz had regained consciousness after a few minutes, but Patty had hauled her over to the booth anyway and forbidden her to move until she looked 'less dead'.  
"Trying to recover from my near-death experience over here."  
Abby immediately fell silent, her face set with consternation. A tense lull settled across the makeshift lab.  
"You okay, Abby?" Patty asked quietly, as she anointed her friend's hand with antiseptic cream.  
"I'm fine," she replied flatly, drumming her leg beneath the table.  
"You don't seem fine."  
"I threw Holtzmann out of the window."  
"Point taken." She worked in silence for a few moments, gently wiping a larger cut across Abby's knuckle.  
"There we go baby. Do you have any on your arms that I can't see?"  
But Abby wasn't listening, her eyes flicking between the shattered window and the booth.  
"You didn't do that, Abby."  
Abby looked down at her hands.  
"Think about it. Would you really have tried to hurt your friends? Even one as aggravating as Holtzy?"  
"Of course not, but it was still-"  
"Look," Patty set down the cream. "Rowan was _inside your head_. Could you stop him?"  
"No. He had full control of me. Of my hands..." She shuddered.  
"Exactly. And you ain't usually that strong, are you?" Patty chuckled, even though she knew it was a terrible joke, but Abby didn’t even smile. Patty tutted internally and sat back in her chair to survey her friend.  
"Abby, listen to me. That wasn't you. I know that, and Holtz knows that. And I got him out of you and we're all okay. So you have nothin' to worry about. You hear me? Now go on and fix yourself up. We good here."  
Abby shook her head slightly, her eyes darting back to the booth.  
"Go on, ain't nothin' gonna happen while you're in the bathroom-"  
Abby raised her eyebrows.  
"-This time. Go on."  
Abby sighed softly, but pushed herself away from the table.  
"And Holtzy's alright, ain't you Holtzy?" Patty called over her shoulder. There was no response.  
"Holtzy?"  
Patty turned in her chair. The engineer was sat upright, one shaky arm extended out in front of her.  
"Holtz?"  
The light..." Holtzmann breathed, gesturing at nothing Patty could see.  
"What's wrong, baby?"  
"The... the light..." she repeated, more urgently this time, her breath catching in her throat.  
Patty looked around wildly.  
"What light, Holtzy? What are you on about?"  
"I see... a light..." Holtzmann's arm dropped down to her side and her eyes began to flutter.  
"Nuh-uh, baby!" Patty jumped out of her chair and dived into the booth. Oh hell, could this day get any worse? She couldn't cope with this, not again-  
"Holtzy, look at me!" Patty grabbed the engineer's face and stared into her glassy, unfocused eyes. "Look at me, baby! I already saved you once today - ABBY!"  
Abby crashed out of the bathroom and in half a second had taken in the scene - Holtzmann slumped in the booth, her glasses dangling pathetically from one ear, Patty screaming unintelligible sounds in the engineer's face - and her stomach turned to ice. In three strides she had crossed the room, pushed Patty out of the way and grabbed the front of Holtz's waistcoat, attempting to pull her back into an upright position.  
"What happened? Holtzmann, what's wrong? Holtzmann!"  
Holtzmann's lips twitched, a movement that was barely perceptible, and then her head slumped towards her chest and she went limp in Abby's arms. Abby began to shake her furiously.  
"HOLTZMANN wake up, goddamnit, wake up - this can't be happening- "  
"STAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHT, HOLTZY!" Patty bellowed in Abby's ear, but it barely registered - every fibre of the scientist's being was concentrated on the pale, still body of her friend.  
"Holtzmann? Holtzmann, please..." Abby held her breath. For three, awful seconds, there was nothing but crushing silence-  
And then Holtz farted and burst out laughing, and Abby didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  
"MY GOD, HOLTZMANN!" She finally shouted, her voice sounding strange and high pitched as she struggled to extract herself from Holtz's now writhing limbs. "Of all the IRRESPONSIBLE-"  
"That was NOT FUNNY HOLTZY!" Patty yelled, punching the cackling engineer on the arm. "Man, if you hadn't nearly already died today I _swear_ I'd knock you into tomorrow- "  
"Don't hurt me I'm broken," Holtz yelped as she squirmed away from Patty's punches. "And I'm sorry. It's too soon to joke about dying, understood. But seriously- "  
She straightened up in the booth and gestured to Kevin's phone. "The answering machine is blinking."

*

"Oh gee, thanks for the warning Erin..." Abby sighed with frustration and rubbed her eyes without removing her glasses. "But at least she has some idea of what is happening. But she should be here by now and, if she's right about Rowan, we're running out of time."  
"I wonder how she figured out his masterplan," Holtz ruminated lazily from her booth, before she gasped, dropping her voice to a stage whisper.  
"Oh - do you think she was possessed too?"  
Abby visibly flinched and Patty frowned at the engineer.  
"How about you just sit there and recover, Holtzy. Silently."  
Holtzmann saluted and mimed zipping her lips closed, before settling back into her booth, leaving only the tips of her boots visible.  
"Erin still not answering?" Patty asked, but Abby, furiously flipping through a stack of notes, either didn't hear or completely ignored her.  
"Man," said Patty, after a full minute of silence, "As if that creep actually came back. As a _ghost_. I mean _seriously_. Who does that?"  
"Someone hell bent on taking over the world," Abby grimaced.  
"But I mean _seriously_ ," Patty repeated, louder. The stress of the last hour was getting to her and she was feeling jittery. She'd seen too many strange things in too short a space of time and damn, she'd had enough for one day.  
"I thought we were done with the dude! You die, you move on. You _don't_ come back as a motherfuckin' ghost and possess my friend!"  
"Patty-"  
"Am I the only one surprised? Am I the only one just a little bit _shocked?_ "  
"If anything I am ashamed that none of us anticipated this, actually," Holtz replied dryly.  
"Baby, what did I just say about sitting quietly? You smart, so I know you understood me when I told you that you needed to stop talking-"  
"You sound sexy when you're all riled up, did you know that?"  
" _Holtzy_ -"  
"Seriously guys, we've got enough to worry about right now," Abby sighed, but she was drowned out by a commotion outside.  
"Guys! Hey guys! I know you're home, the window's open!"  
"Is that - Kevin?"  
"Lord, what is that boy up to now?"  
The three ghostbusters moved to the broken window, Patty propping up a decidedly still unsteady Holtz. Kevin stood on the street below, in a pair of too-short overalls, grinning widely up at them.  
"Kevin! What are you doing?" Patty hollered.  
"I want to join the team!" He cried excitedly, "I can help, so just throw me down my own proton pack and-"  
"Oh god!" Abby breathed.  
"Oh god is about right, is he that stupid to think we'd actually give him his own pro-"  
"No, not Kevin," Abby's voice shook. "That."  
She pointed into the sky. A glowing, pulsating cloud was swirling menacingly over Kevin's oblivious head.  
"Erm, Kevin, sweetie, how about you come inside-"  
"No! I want to help!"  
"Come on, Kev-"  
"Kevin get your fool ass inside _right_ now-"  
"Guys, come on, just throw me down-"  
\- It was too late. Rowan had found a much more malleable target.

*

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Abby punched the window frame as she watched Rowan speed away on Kevin's bike with wanton abandon.  
"Calm down Abby," Patty ordered, "We can fix this. We _can_. We know where Rowan's going and we know what he is planning. We just got to, you know, stop him."  
"You don't know what he's capable of," Abby replied quietly, closing her eyes in attempt to block out the memory of Holtzmann's terrified face.  
"Hey, come on now. He's a ghost. Catching ghosts is what we do!"  
"What about Erin? She should be here-"  
"We'll... we'll leave her note!" Patty replied brightly, but Abby scrunched up her brow and lowered her voice.  
"And what about _Holtz?_ "  
"What about Holtz?" Abby and Patty spun around simultaneously. Holtzmann was already fully suited up, one arm swung lazily over her proton gun and a wicked gleam in her eyes.  
"Holtzmann?" Abby's voice resonated with trepidation. "What are you doing?"  
"What...am I...dooooing..." She repeated slowly. "Huh. Well, right now, I am looking at you and Patty, so..."  
"This isn't the time for jokes, Holtz!" Abby squeaked, "I hung you out of the window - by your _neck_ \- you _passed out_ -"  
"And I'm fine," Holtzmann replied, but Abby shook her head in disbelief.  
"What can I say?" The engineer raised one eyebrow and shrugged. "It wasn't my worst Wednesday night."  
Abby spluttered in response.  
"Abby has a point, Holtzy-"  
"Besides," the engineer continued, "We should be more worried about Abby. Rowan tried to scramble her brain - Abs, when this is all over and assuming we make it out alive, I'd like to do a few tests on you, if you'll allow me. Nothing that would hurt - what am I saying? I have literally no idea if it would hurt or not-"  
"Holtzy," Patty crossed the room and stood directly in front of the engineer. "Rowan tried to scramble _you_. So you can understand why Abby is concerned. Are you sure you're up for this?"  
"Sure I'm sure," she replied, but then she paused. "But if I die, I promise to come back and let you use me as target practice. And I know of at least eight ways you could put my body to good use. Nine, if you count stuffing me and hiding me around the building to scare Erin."  
"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say that the lack of oxygen to your brain caused some serious, serious damage," Patty sighed, but she pulled her proton pack off the wall. Holtzmann whooped.  
"Alright Patty! Now let's go bust some ghosts! You too Abby," She shimmied over to the scientist, who still had not moved from the window.  
"Abby?" Holtzmann sang, "Abby! Let's go, Abby!"  
"What about Erin?" Abby garbled, "I still think someone should stay here and wait for her. And I think that person should be Hol-"  
"Gaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Holtzmann cried theatrically and, with one swift move, whipped her phone out of her top pocket and punched in Erin's number.  
"It's ringing..." She whispered loudly, then wrinkled her nose. "Voicemail... Gilbert baby, long time no speak..." there was no hiding the amusement in her voice.  
"… So we've had quite the afternoon here, you really have missed out on a _great_ deal of fun... erhm, Abby tried to kill me and Rowan stole Kevin's body and his motorbike - I'm fine and the bike is probably fine but we can only assume that Kev's mind has been shattered into a million pieces by now... HOWEVER! Be that as it may we feel honour bound to at least _attempt_ to save the big, beautiful dunce so on that note, your presence is formerly requested at The Mecardo and we'd appreciate it if you could at least TRY to get there before the end of the world as we know it, alright sweet cheeks? Oh, and Patty says hi." She tossed her phone over her shoulder and surveyed her nonplussed teammates.  
"Are we good?"  
Patty raised an eyebrow at Abby, who didn’t know what else to do but nod.  
"Okay then," Holtz pulled down her glasses and licked her lips. "Let's go."


End file.
